Only The Best For The Prince's Wife
"I shall wear the blue dress!" Tatiana yelled aloud, glaring at Jessamine across the room. "Blue suits me so much better! You and your pale skin, you'll look absolutely horrible!"
"You take that back!" Jessamine replied angrily, clutching the blue gown to her bosom. "Blue has always been my color. Pink suits your skin tone like an angel. You have got to wear the fuchsia one. I shall wear the blue one."
Tessa sighed, standing at the side of the room, watching the scene unfold before her eyes, as they fought over the blue dress.
"It's mine!" Tatiana cried, lunging forward to grab the dress from Jessamine, who held it close. "Father said that I should have a turn to wear it sometime!"
"And you may. Just not this evening," Jessamine said calmly, turning away as Tatiana approached. "Tonight it is mine."
A piercing scream shot through the room, as Tatiana grabbed the ends of the dress, and yanked, hoping to scare Jessamine into letting go of of the upper half of the dress.
And sometimes, things don't work out the way you imagine them.
The dress was ripped across the side, and both girls stared at it in horror, immediately starting to yell and accuse and point fingers at each other.
When the arguing had subsided, they took a last look at the dress. "I guess it wasn't as pretty as I thought," Jessamine sighed, examining the rip in the side.
"Yes… I believe that it was a little bit ugly," Tatiana conceded, taking the dress from Jessamine and drawing her mouth to the side. "What shall we do with it?"
"I don't care. Get it out of my sight. Give it to Tessa," she said sharply, taking the material and throwing at the girl standing to the side, head bowed and eyes lowered. "Do what you want with it. It's yours now."
Tessa kept a straight face, catching the ruined dress, then folding it neatly and placing it on the desk next to her. "Thank you, Miss Jessamine."
"I think that I will wear the pink dress," Tatiana said, pulling it from the closet and holding it up to her, admiring it in the mirror. "It is quite pretty. Tessa! Help me lace this up. I need my corset extra tight today."
"And I the violet one," Jessamine said, pulling it from the closet as well, spinning around, and watching the way that it brushed her feet. "I will look simply stunning. The prince won't be able to resist."
"I'm sure that the prince will fancy both of us," Tatiana giggled, as Tessa pulled on the strings of her corset, lacing each hook as tight as possible. "And maybe, I will even have a proposal by the end of the night."
"You? Don't you mean me, darling?" Jessamine asked, her eyes wide as she picked out shoes to wear with her dress, placing them on the bed of the room.
Tessa, having finished with Tatiana, began to lace Jessamine up, "Do you think… Would it be possible for me to attend?" she asked quietly, eyes averted as she focused on making the corset as tight as possible for her stepsister.
"You!?" Both the sisters said in unison, exchanging a look of utter incredulity, then bursting into a fit of laughters, though it was slightly hindered by the tightness of their corsets.
"What could the prince ever want with you?" Jessamine laughed, flicking her hair over one shoulder. "Perhaps a servant. We should take you along and offer you as a gift if he chooses to marry one of us."
"Now, that would just make us look bad," Tatiana argued, slipping her shoes on, and brushing her hair out in the mirror. "We should be ashamed that we have such homely service."
"Very well then. If you want to go, you must have something of your own to wear," Jessamine scoffed, though Tessa had to admit, she was slightly nicer than her sister. "And if you see us at the ball, you must not acknowledge us, or that you know us."
"That would be simply scandalous," Tatiana agreed, making a face. "Imagine! Us being seen with her! And also, if you wish to go, you must clean this house up, so that there is not a single speck of dust on any surface, not a pencil out of place, and not a spot on the floor or windows that has not been thoroughly cleaned."
"But… That will take ages!" Tessa exclaimed, startled as she drew back, looking ashamed at her outburst. "I mean… I can never get that done in so little time. Please…"
"No exceptions," Jessamine finalized, picking up the ruined dress, shoving it into Tessa's arms, then pushing her out the door. "I suggest, if you wish to join us, that you get to work right away."
Biting down on her lip, Tessa moved from the doorway, down the hall, to her small room in the attic, placing the dress down on her bed, then set to work, doing everything that her stepsisters had told her to.
Thirty minutes until the carriage was to arrive, Tessa found herself back in her room, having taken a bath and cleaned the soot and dirt from herself. Picking up the dress, she measured the damage, and found that it was nothing worse than a long gash in the side of it.
Quickly taking a needle and thread, she stitching up the side, she held it up her chest, seeing that the previous form was barely noticeable. Having become a good mender and seamstress over the years, she admired her handiwork, before slipping the dress on, not bothering with a corset, for the dress was too wide in the waist already, and a corset wouldn't solve anything.
She was a bit taller than her stepsisters, and also thinner, so the dress hung loosely on her frame, and was a bit short, but nonetheless, she looked wonderful. Both of the other girls would have looked gorgeous in the dress, for it was a classic and intricate design, with beading and lace and layers of fabric that made it look elegant, but not overdone.
Finally, she donned her clockwork angel necklace, the one possession she still had her mother, and clasped it around her neck, letting it fall between her collarbones.
Heading down the stairs, she saw Jessamine and Tatiana stare, not believing that she had gotten everything done, and had managed to mend the dress. Their mouths were hung open, and their father, Mortmain, watched with shock from in back of them.
"That's… My dress!" Tatiana screamed, running towards Tessa and grabbing the side where the rip had been. Jessamine followed suit, glaring Tessa down and placing a hand on the neckline, where a layer of lace was.
'You… Wretched girl!" She yelled, yanking her hand down and ripping the lace off. "It doesn't even look good on you! Its much too big."
"Yes," Tatiana agreed, reaching over to snag the back off the dress and pull, stretching the material of the dress out. "And it's much too short!"
Jessamine laughed, bending down and ripping two layers of the skirt off. "That's much better."
"Girls, girls," Mortmain called from the door, looking outside, and seemingly not noticing the torture his daughters were inflicting on poor Tessa. "The carriage is here. Let's not be late."
They both straightened up, smiling maliciously, and turning around, starting to the door.
"Don't bother showing up," Tatiana called over her shoulder. "You look utterly horrible."
Tessa turned and ran.
She found herself in the library, the only safe haven for her, save for her room, sitting on one of the small divans, her hands clasped in her lap. She blinked rapidly, trying to keep the tears from falling, as she never liked to cry, even when she was alone.
But it was too much to handle this time, and she felt the cool wetness of salty tears falling down her cheeks, her shoulders softly shaking. Reaching up, she felt her hand clasp around something near her neck, her clockwork angel necklace, and she squeezed her eyes together. wishing that something, everything, might be different.
Because her eyes were closed, she didn't see the necklace glowing, the sparkles appearing out of nowhere surrounding her in a glowing mist.
She didn't notice anything, until she felt a hand on her shoulder, and she slowly lifted her eyes to look up, seeing a shadowy shape next to her.
"Now, now, don't cry," the figure said, the voice sounding feminine and comforting. "I think I can help you. You just have to listen to me."
Wow! I can't believe that I got 14 reviews, 8 favorites, and 16 follows! You guys are amazeballs! :) I hope you guys liked this chapter, and I meant to post yesterday, but like, FanFiction was down and I almost died. Seriously.
Leave a review telling me what you did or didn't like, please! I have some more chapters written, but I don't know if I want to make any more changes to them before I post. :) It's going to be a cool story, though. I'm so excited!
~Jillessa Heronstairs~